You are too many and I'm only one, so I can't win. Always, when you are “yelling” too loud and too long, then probably I have to come. Actually, I was tricked into coming. I didn't like to go. I do not know where I want to go, just that I don't want to go anywhere, and sometimes God has to trick me. Hes sometimes makes like a big, important event and tells somebody to invite me, for example. So, here I am, already in Hawaii, so since I came, I just stay for a few days.

I always am tricked into something. If I stay somewhere too long… for example, I like it, I like somewhere very long - the sun and the wind or something, and then suddenly I'll be ill. Something has to push me somewhere, and doesn't let me stay somewhere. Now I understand. I keep telling some of the attendants, I say, “Now I know why Jesus said, `Even the birds have their nests but the Son of God has nowhere to lay his head.'” I was wondering why, because everybody loved Jesus, and now they built a big temple for him and how come he didn't have any pillow to lay his head? Probably he meditated all night long, I don't know.

But, since I cannot stay anywhere too long, I begin to understand something. Maybe I think I understand, I'm not sure, maybe not. We're always very proud of our thinking and our enlightenment until we suddenly realize that we know nothing. Now, any questions? You need to ask me something?

*Master, when we meditate on the Sound and the birds see us meditating...

The who? (*The birds.) The birds! The birds! The poor birds! What can they do with your meditation? It's all right. (*Okay.) Dogs are okay. Dogs, cats, birds - everything - except human beings. It's not a secret. It's not a secret that we should meditate in a closed room or with a cloth when we are in the public. It's not a secret. It's just that they may shock you, because they see you sit in a not-very-ordinary position. Mostly people are acquainted with the sitting, lotus-like position, or just sit like this and close the eyes and they will think you're asleep. It's all right. But if you're doing something else, a different mudra, then people get scared You don't want to shock them and they don't want to shock you. We're all right.

After we meditate for many years, you don't see me growing horns on my head. Nothing wrong with us and no side effects, But the people who are not used to it, they will feel uneasy, and then sometimes they make you uneasy as well.

They may want to take you somewhere and maybe you'd have a headache, “Oh, you have a headache?” and even though you try to convince them, it's sometimes difficult. That's all. All right? But birds, they don't complain. The birds are all right. Sometimes they land on your head.

Yes, and I keep feeding them and so the birds come a lot. And now they are coming to another one, another house. They come to eat. They don't care whether I do Quan Yin or “Quan Yang,” or whatever. They don't care. Anything else? It's cute. The question is cute. You have to use your wisdom a little. Always, when I stay somewhere too long, something will happen.

God never wants me to stay somewhere. Hes pushes me around. It's not God, it's you actually. I must be honest. It's you. Anywhere you go, you just keep sitting there on your bottom and you have nothing else to do except, “Master, why don't you come?” Something like that. And then you are too many and I am only one so I can't win. Always when you are “yelling” too loud and too long, then probably I have to come. But please don't yell too often. I don't like traveling, I don't know why, probably too much of a good thing. Yes, any more questions, please? Now, you're satisfied?

*Yes, thank you very much, Master.

You are welcome. I thank you.

*We will meditate to pray for you.

Yes, all you can do is praying for the whole world, because it looks like we are going to have trouble, as predicted by many of the clairvoyant people in the world, including yours, Americans', famous Cayce. So we'd better pray and meditate. We don't have too much time. We never have too much time. I hope you believe in what I say. I wish you do. And whatever we can save, we save. Whatever is damaged, well, that would be God's will. Our world has been through a lot of upheavals, you know, changing. It is inevitable. There is no need to say we are superstitious and thinking that the world will end or something like that. We don't have to believe it.

We don't have to. It will happen one day or another, right? Or it doesn't have to end. It's sometimes destroyed in some parts and it will inconvenience a lot of people and destroy a lot of people's lives and property. This is not something that's superstitious. The world always changes according to the mental expectation and the life attitude of the people on this planet. It will change sometimes, so the best thing is we look up to God. And now we already have the connection with God, it's all right for us, whether we come or we go.

Whether we stay or we go back to Hirm, it's all right. Yes, at least we don't fear. We have no fear, but we have to also sometimes pray for God's grace for our brothers and sisters, in case they still can be saved in some way, and “Please God, hasten the means for them.” And you also try to work in your community, spreading the gospel, telling them that only God can save them. “God saves us” doesn't mean that God always will protect our house or protect our body, but Hes will save us afterward.

After all the ephemeral things have gone, Hes will save us eternally. We will be there eternally. After you die, you don't think you have died; you will laugh at life right now as a joke. We will wonder why we don't die earlier; would be easier, would be nicer. We'll live in a freer atmosphere. We will not feel like we're dying. You will not feel that you lose this body - no. In fact, many people, after they die, they have the illusion that they have not died.

They still go about in their business until all their employees don't recognize them and bowing to another boss, and their wives don't even bother about his presence, and embracing another one in bed. Then he begins to get a shock, and says, “What's wrong?” And when he talks to people, people don't reply, and then he will begin to wonder what happened.

You don't feel like you've died. So death is an illusion, it's a myth. There's nothing to death and life because we don't die. We are not really born, just we get caught in some of the instruments here and then we think we are Mrs. Smith and Mr. John and things like that. We are all over the place. We are the whole universe.

We are not in this body. We're hooked up, a little part in this body, that's all, just like electricity is trapped in one wire or another. Actually, they are not the bulb. This is the electricity, you know what I mean? It's just a shell that we happen to get trapped into it and we use it sometimes just for some purpose. And it's all right, we have fun; but the fun is not always that funny. So, after all, we realize it and then we want to find God for the permanent fun.

And then after you die, truly you will realize that we were mistaken all along. Why should we stay in this lousy place when we could have a freer life, a more glorious way of expressing ourselves which we call “in Heaven,” yes?

*Aloha, Master. (Aloha.) I'm very honored to be here tonight. It was a nice surprise to be able to come and I appreciate it. I'm just worried that my coughing might affect your initiation. Is that a worry for me to keep coughing? Is that disruptive?

Why?

*I thought it might…

You try to take a suppressant during the initiation, if there is initiation, so you don't disturb yourself and others, that's all. But no, no bother; otherwise you can sit alone Ask them during initiation, maybe you'd like to sit alone or behind, something like that. It's all right. Well, we cough sometimes, don't we?

*My concern is the request of two-and-a-half hours of meditation. I feel that after initiation, I will have the strength, but I'm doubting that I will have the…

It's all right. It's all right. You meditate slowly. One day you meditate maybe 20 minutes and then you rest if you don't want to, then another half an hour later and another half an hour later, okay? And then maybe if you want to keep yourself disciplined, then you can add about ten minutes or five minutes a day.

*Thank you so much.

It's all right. You know the meditation is not that hard as you think. You see? You don't have to be cross- legged like those yogis. They frighten you with all these positions. Sometimes they sit like this... They're just trying to frighten you. You sit like this, like a queen. Is that simple? Just sit like this, or anything you want, or sit fancily if you want. As long as you concentrate on God's kingdom, there's no bodily disturbance, all right? Or you can lie down even, but not when you're too tired; you will snore.

*I was just thinking, there are times when it's difficult to keep a commitment, for instance, if you're at your parents' place and they're not vegetarian. There may be situations where you would insult someone if you didn't eat their food.

Oh really?

*Yes. Is it totally 100% you're asking for? Is that what you're asking for?

All or nothing at all. (*Okay. Thank you.)

“Half of the love will never appeal to me, If your heart is never 100 percent for me.” You know what? If you love God, then love Hirm totally or don't. Hes doesn't care. Take it easy. If you don't want to love Hirm now, love Hirm later - okay? - any time, but 100%. I tell you what, even if we can eat eggs and meat and all that kind of things and still can become Buddha - you know what I mean? - even if we can do all that, and still can come, we should still quit. The test is so small compared to what you have offered.

In the old days, the master tested disciples harder than this. Only vegetarian diet. When you cook potatoes, mashed potatoes and some vegetables in some gravy, instead of meat gravy, you put vegetarian gravy, and instead of a piece of steak, you put a piece of tofu on it. What's the difference, that much?

And nowadays, we have so much variety. Vegetarian ham tastes just like real, and vegetarian steak - vegetarian everything - and so nutritious. We depleted the Earth because we raised cattle and animals. Actually, this is another way to contribute to our Earth planet. You know all this. You read more books than I can ever imagine, about vegetarian, about how to save our world, about environmental love and all kinds of things - and vegetarian diet is the answer to all these questions. Our Earth is collapsing because we eat too much meat, actually; or we have to put it that way, roughly. Roughly it's like that You read newspapers more than I do, no?

You look at television more than I ever do. I don't look at television. But every year, we cut down forests as big as England just to raise animals. So how many rainforests have been destroyed? And this will change the atmosphere - you know what I mean? - change the atmosphere, change the rain. That's why our planet's heating up. And then many places are having problems with floods and also drought, long periods. You remember? Even America.

So if we want to save the planet, if we want to preach environmental care, we should be vegetarian. There's no other thing to do, right? And that is just a small thing compared to all the vaccination and all the water, pure water, used for meat, and things like that. You know better than I do.

Yes, you do know. I don't want to preach to you the things that you've already read in the newspapers and magazines and television every day. I just remind you, just a small portion of it. But the harmful effect of the meat diet is larger than life. Not only that, so many things, and harmful to ourselves. So why don't you ask people not to offend you by not eating meat, instead of worrying that you offend them by having such a virtuous and beautiful way of life? No blood on the table, all right?

They should be worried to offend you with killing. You are doing the right thing. Why are you offending people? It's an upside-down question. All right. See, we're mostly very weak. We are too humble and too nice to people and sometimes this nicety, this weakness or this humbleness is in the wrong place. We should be the one who advocates the right way of life, leading people back to the virtuous way of God instead of worrying how people think about us in the wrong way.

If you do something wrong, by all means, confess, repent and kneel all day long in front of Jesus or whatever, if you want. But you do the right thing, you know what I mean? Face your conscience, “I am not doing anything wrong. I am doing the right thing so I have to stick to the right thing,” yes? Otherwise, I tell you, if you don't practice now, suppose you are born again next life, you will meet again friends and relatives who will be too glad to give you beefsteak and then when will you stop? When? Always feel offended for doing the right thing. This is terrible! If you do the right thing, you should never be afraid, even in front of God.

You should not be worried when you do the right thing, and you should be a solid example for other people to follow, because the whole world follows the wrong direction already. And you are the only one, just turn around and go the right direction and then any minute you come back again, and people don't know how to follow you.

The more people turn in the right direction, the better. Narrow is the path that leads to light, but not many people tread in that path. Wide and easy is the road to destruction, but many will follow. So choose your direction and let other people do what they want, but not to influence your direction. All right? Be courageous. We are a few, but a few doesn't mean defeat. If you look at any classroom, the brilliant, the intelligent, only a few. All right? You don't have to degrade your intelligence or try to make mistakes on purpose just to please the neighbor?

*Master, I have your picture that says “Master from the Himalayas spoke at the United Nations.”
But I always get stuck on “Master from the Himalayas.”

What's the big deal. I didn't know I have such a picture. Who wrote all this?

I get these questions in my head. I wonder when my Master was there, was it all men with her? How did they regard her because she is one of the smart ones amongst them? So, I think what really is in my head… The question was: Were you the only woman that was up there in the Himalayas trying to reach enlightenment as you have reached it now? Or were there others? And question two: How were you regarded by those men who were up there also trying to reach enlightenment?

We don't communicate with each other that much. You imagine. You think that the Himalayas is just like in this room, and males and females sit together and regarding each other as the…what. It's a vast, huge region. You don't often see other people who try to reach enlightenment. You only see once in a while. But whenever we gathered together, they seemed to respect me a lot.

*Were there any other women, Master? (Well, a lot of women.) A lot of women?

The world is combined with half men and half women. How can you not find any women in the Himalayas? But we don't think that much at that time. I don't think I have to regard people as “who is who,” and they don't do like that. We are all probably very engaged in each own effort to try to find the way. Just like now, even if I am in a crowd, I am not with the crowd. I am always engaged in my own inside business, and I am often alone in the crowd, and I feel alone with God most of the time.

Except when people busy me and trying to take me out of it, then I wake up to reality for a while, and then I hide inside again. I don't know how other women feel, but I'm often engaged inside. I don't feel like engaging in any other things. Not at all. Even if I do it I eat or I play, or something like that - but it's just a matter of “by the way”; my mind's inside, always.

*So, in essence, Master, you're saying to us that the effort is just the same as that of a man and a woman in being able to get as high as… you work for it.

Yes, yes. By the way, women are supposed to be more clever than men. Excuse me! Excuse me, gentlemen! If you read the Reader's Digest lately… I don't often read it, but when I came to this house, there's an old, battered, I mean, last year's edition of Reader's Digest, I read it. And according to research, scientific research, women are more sensitive than men, have better leadership ability than men, more intelligent than men, have more common sense than men - anything, better!

So, good news! Good news. And even women live longer than men, women can concentrate better than men, women can see better than men, according to the Reader's Digest. Please don't leave the room, gentlemen. I'll show it to you. This is Americans' research, not my own concoction. Now they explained why the husband always stares in the fridge, the refrigerator, staring at the milk bottle and says, “Honey, where is the milk?”

Women see things more particularly and just at a glance, at the corner of their eye; they see everything, but men don't. Well, that's what they say. So, in case if you meditate, maybe you see better with a corner of your eye than a man. I don't know. This is a male society, so we cannot talk too loud like that, but since you asked me, I have no other alternative. Put all the blame on me. The people talk nonsense like, “Women cannot become Buddha,” and things like that. Why not? All the Buddhas came from women. Where else do they come from?

*That's true.

True. So we have the honor to even bear the Buddhas. For that matter even, to be a mother of Buddha is not bad, no? Now, all the intelligent men are having behind them an intelligent woman. Well, you know that. For example, many of our presidents have intelligent wives. All of you all know? Is it not true? (Yes.) True. Even now, they're still debating on Hillary's intelligence.

Without “her” there is no “him,” for example like that. So now you know. Truly we have to give in to that. I have just realized that's why men are afraid of women - I mean, husbands are afraid of wives - probably because they are too intelligent. But please play it low so your husband will love you more. Be intelligent, but discreetly. Don't show him. Don't show him. It hurts his ego and it frightens him. It frightens him.

We have to encourage him also to be more particular. I don't know why women are more intelligent than men. Ironically, all the cooks, all the chefs in the best hotels, or the most accomplished chefs are men. Maybe this work is not for women Maybe women should rule the nations and let the men cook! No, no, no, no. I don't have this ambition. No. Just joking. Okay, please, all the fathers, the brothers, forgive me. Anyhow, probably that's why God punishes me. I don't have any brothers. I have a lot of cousins.

*Hallo, my name is Marie. Nice to meet you, Master. I come from Sydney, Australia, and…

Holiday? Vacation?

*Not really. We've just come from Maui; we're doing a seminar.

Okay, welcome.

*Thank you.

You and her also, right?

*Yes, we're together. (And another…) Yes, there's a whole group of us here all together that's flown over today. Very nice to meet you. I just have this question about… You talk about God being “He.”

What, “He”? Then it's “She,” all right?

*Yes, to me, God is male and female.

A She-God, okay. Well, if I say “She,” then men will complain. If I say “He,” women complain. Now, I say “no She-, no He-God,” it will take too long! Troublesome, you know. You know it. You know it. It's all right. We don't need to debate over vocabulary.

*That's okay. I mean, I know that, but do a lot of other people know that? Are they really aware of the fact that God is both man and woman? So when you do actually pray, it's like “Mother-Father-God.”

Troublesome. If I say God is “no male, no female,” they'll probably say Hes is homosexual. So what do you do? You just pray to God, “Dear God, you know, whoever you are…” Hes knows, all right? Even if we don't know, Hes knows. Hes is supposed to be God, Hes knows. Or She knows, or He-She knows. Don't worry, honey, it's all right.

Actually, there is no need to describe. I cannot describe God, but because many people talk to us since ancient times as a “He” mostly, so I just go with the fashion so as not to confuse people. Also as a matter of habit speaking, you know what I mean? Otherwise, it's a language problem only, not our problem really, because we make so many verbs and nouns, and a lot of trouble, a lot of trouble. So just say, “God, I know You are there and You know I am here and so, whoever You are, just help.” All right? (*Thank you.) You're welcome.

We depleted the Earth because we raised cattle and animals. Actually, this is another way to contribute to our Earth planet. You know all this. You read more books than I can ever imagine, about vegetarian, about how to save our world, about environmental love and all kinds of things - and vegetarian diet is the answer to all these questions.

Our Earth is collapsing because we eat too much meat, actually; or we have to put it that way, roughly. Roughly it's like that You read newspapers more than I do, no? You look at television more than I ever do. I don't look at television. But every year, we cut down forests as big as England just to raise animals.

So how many rainforests have been destroyed? And this will change the atmosphere - you know what I mean? - change the atmosphere, change the rain. That's why our planet's heating up. And then many places are having problems with floods and also drought, long periods. You remember? Even America. So if we want to save the planet, if we want to preach environmental care, we should be vegetarian.

*Respected Master, thank you for allowing me to be here. You have talked about the upcoming destruction of the world. You said that the Earth is going to get hotter and hotter - one of the things, the heat.

I'm just talking about the facts (*Yes.) that is going on in this world right now.

*Right, right. What can we do physically to prepare ourselves? Like one of the things you had said is to become a vegetarian. What can we do physically, what can we do spiritually, to prepare for this upcoming destruction that's going to happen in the world?

I don't know if we can stop… We were discussing the facts only. I didn't really predict anything. I just said what we are doing now and what is affecting the world, as a matter of fact. It's scientifically fact. Everybody knows. Not that I predict that in the year 2000 the world is gone. Yes? I didn't say anything like that. We're just saying things like what are we doing right now, for example, cutting all the forests, yes? This, all of you know, does affect the world. So we were talking about vegetarian diet and the benefit thereof. It's [Destruction] going on every day at every corner of the population.

But we can minimize it, and we can strengthen our spiritual self in order for miracles to happen, and that's also to influence our community with our spiritual strength and knowledge, that they will go also our way, and whatever destruction might happen or might not happen, we are very safe, we are very secure in our knowledge in God.

At least we are not frightened, we are not going berserk, and we will know what to expect. Whether we lose our life, it's not a big deal. I told you already, life is a joke. Only life eternal is real. We just get caught, get hooked, into this instrument for a while and then we are scared to lose it. But it's nonsense, because we have more beautiful instruments elsewhere and anywhere to use, all right? Just to be vegetarian, meditate: that's a preparation for the eternal, not for destruction. Destruction comes and goes. Eternal is always there. Yes? We prepare for God, not for destruction, because at the end of our life, when we lie down in the coffin, it's also our own destruction anyhow, whether the world still goes on or not goes on. So the most precious preparation is for God, to go back to the eternal.

*I was wondering what you experience when you see people, or experience us as individuals in a crowd, or a leader, as to whether they're on your path. Do you have a sense, without talking to people, what would you relay?

I told you, I'm always engaged inside. I have no idea what you are and what you are doing, so I just mind my own business, see?

*You get the information that you give to us from the questions we ask?

From inside. Well, I just reply accordingly. You mean, I have to read your mind first and then answer? Is that what you mean?

*I wondered. (If I could, right?) I don't know how you do it.

I probably could, you never know. But as a matter of fact, I'm ignorant of good and bad and ugly, and beauties. But when you come to me as an individual and sincerely request something, then automatically your sincerity will attract the wisdom from God and then that will be the answer. Yes? Has nothing to do with my individual, your individual. Has to do with our own inner connection. I never look through at people and say, “Oh, this person is bad!” Or, “Whoa, this is a saint sitting here!” I don't know, I really don't - I mean, at least my mind doesn't. My brain doesn't register bad and good and ugly. Sometimes I do sense people if I am caught off guard, when I am not very engaged, or when, for that person's benefit, I have to scrutinize his inside or her inside, what that person needs, but that is done on the inside and not going through my mind. God protects me from prejudice.

If I have to know everybody - who is bad, who is good - I can't do my job. That's the ego at work

*I didn't think of it as bad or as good, but what was in our way, as far as whether we're on our path or not.

Whether you're on a path or not? You mean I look at a person and know whether he is on the path or not?

*No, you've answered my question already. I just wanted to let you know I never had a thread of thought that you were judgmental in...

*I have a comment I'd like to share about… ( Please.) The question that was asked earlier about God is a man or a woman - I truly have been involved with groups who change the wording so that it was inclusive, and it's honestly an easier habit to break than it is to eat meat.

Well, it's true. It's true. But never mind. Let it be He or Him or She or He, we just get on with our business first, right? Eat vegetarian, meditate, virtuous life, and that's all. And then He or She, it doesn't matter. It's His business… I mean Her business! Here, let's have a look.

*I can find it for you, if you like.

Yes, women are intelligent. Sometimes you will find that my answer is not related to the question that much because sometimes the inner wisdom answers to your inner request more. Sometimes the people are like this. They want to ask like this, but they cannot formulate, or they are too shy to ask about the direct problem and then they ask something else and just run-around, and then I find that the Master wisdom always answers just directly to the most important problem, into their own heart.

*That's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to fumble around.

Please don't, if you can help it.

*Being obviously Western and not being raised in a particular tradition that teaches the type of philosophy that you teach, I find that the streets of California can very much be like the Himalayas in searching for enlightenment, and that there are times whenever you're looking for answers to situations in your life, and you pause and you wait and you wait for the right answer and the right situation, and you want to know that the decision that you make and what you're doing is absolutely the right thing, and it's very difficult if you do not have the level of enlightenment that you would like to have, to know that you are doing absolutely the right thing.

How do you calm the stillness and go forward with the certainty and confidence that you know that you need to be effective in what you're doing, and to perform the way that you should, but yet to remain open, that if you aren't the right way, that you can still make a corner and go a different direction?

Well, of course, it's a difficult question and answer. In any way, just try to be honest with yourself. That's it. Do the thing that you think is the most likely to benefit yourself and the person concerned at that moment, and honestly - no harm in your heart, no malice and no trickery, nothing - and then whatever the outcome, it's the outcome of honesty, and God will help to take care of your direction, if Hes doesn't take care already.

Always pray in our heart that, “Please, I'm doing my best, but I'm not sure, so let me feel or inspire me some way or from some...” Sometimes you happen to flip a book and then the answer pops out, or sometimes you happen to listen to a cassette from a Master, or other Masters, or some books from ancient Masters, and suddenly you find something that's related to your question. It's sometimes like that. Thank you, honey.

Also, sometimes you sit in meditation quietly and you feel absolutely that's the thing you have to do. Or you sleep over the problem one night, and you wake up absolutely sure that's what you have to do. It's often like that. That's how we have to do. That's how I have to do also. Lately, I happened to read a book… A disciple bought a book, from Nostradamus and the things about which he predicted, and he predicted that…

Well, I'm not talking about his prediction now. I'm afraid to waste your time on the things that you already know unless you want to ask me, but I'm talking about his life as an individual now, for your example. Just now it happened that I think of him, not that he has to be in this particular question, but it just happened that I read him a few days ago, from a disciple.

He led a life of a very, very busy physician. All day long he had to take care of the people who were sick, and at his time there was a big plague, and war even, and all that, and he had a handful of work to do with very minimal medical substance and equipment at that time. But even then, all day he took care of the patients; in the nighttime, he meditated. People said he would sit all night and stare in a bowl of water or the black mirror - called “black mirror.”

Probably he put a black mirror on it, probably he looked at his black mirror here, the way we do. That was how he saw things far away from his period of time even, and many things he saw have been proven accurate. Is that not so? Supposed to, according to the book I read. Also, he predicted the present savior of the world. Yes. Did you read his book? I read it in the Aulacese (Vietnamese) translation. It was very accurate, very accurate.

*Hallo, it's me again. Master, I'm just wondering. I know very little about you, but I saw a photograph of your aura which really impressed me. Can you explain what's the aura…?

Photo with aura? (Yes.) The disciples, they make a fuss about it. Everybody has aura.

Really? Who has it? Okay, there are some other pictures, I have seen some also. There's a big round…around. Also, there's a whole body. I've seen one picture like that, but I don't have it myself.

*But the one that I saw was about four feet above.

Four feet above?

*Clouds, pink and an orange.

So, so, so. What about it? ( *I was just…) You don't like it?

*It was beautiful. It was very impressive. I just wondered if you can explain what it is.

Okay. By the way, yesterday we watched one of the videotapes that the disciples brought for me and it is said that Edgar Cayce saw people's auras, yes, yes. And by the way, one of my attendants, he said to me… Because he doesn't understand much English, he just watched it with me and then he said, “Oh, that man can see the people's aura?” And I said, “Yes, what about it?” He said he saw it too. I said, “Whom? When?” He said he saw my aura only, and the other ones have no aura. I said, “You are blind! You are blind. You are blind.” That happened...

The question is: When and how we see people's aura? - when our eyes open a little bit, the third eye. There are many eyes - we call the “Deva's eyes,” the “Buddha eyes.” Deva's eyes, when you open, it means your - it's not ultimate, yes - your wisdom opens a little, and then you can see people's aura. And according to people's aura, you can know that person at this moment is angry or spiritually developed, benevolent or a very malicious person. If you see people with red flaming around them, that means they're, at that moment, very angry, for example like that. And I asked the attendant, “What did you see?” He said he saw my aura one time, a long time ago. I said, “You are blind.” I said, “Everybody has aura, not only me.” He said, “But I didn't see.”

He said, “When I first came to see you on a retreat, I looked at you and you have the whole… the bluish Light around you and I thought something was wrong with my eyes.” He said he thought something was wrong with his eyes, so he looked around and saw somebody else around, so many people, nobody had it. That's why I scolded him. I said, “You are blind.” So I explained to him that everyone has aura except the people dying- they don't have aura - or the dead people. Yes, dying or dead people, they mostly don't have aura. Or they must have a sudden death or something - that even you see them now, and five minutes later they die - they don't have aura right now.

For example, like that. So I explained to him that everybody has aura, some colored differently, big or small, according to their spiritual development. And he asked me why he didn't see that everybody else has aura - at that time only I had the aura. I said, “Because you're blind. Because the aura of the Master is too bright, therefore you can see a little bit. Because you are so blind that you see only a little bit. And other people's aura's not so bright, therefore, because you are blind you can't see.” All right? You see any aura right now?

*I can see a little bit of yours.

You do a bit? Okay. So you're not so blind.

*I was going to ask you: At what age did you discover that you were enlightened? And what did it feel like?

I don't really know. I don't keep record. I guess about 17, 17 years of age when I started to realize that life doesn't mean anything. Even if I live on two more days or I die two days before, it's just a matter of more eating rice and exercising. It just doesn't mean that much. All right? I truly, truly, deeply understand that, but it is difficult to convey in words

Are you satisfied with my answer? I always make jokes about everything, but seriously it's like that. Okay?

*Master, in one of our latest issues of our magazines, in the questions-and-answers, you were discussing about the aliens and how they were saying for us to help them save their other members of their group. ( Yes.) I was kind of wondering when I read that article, is it possible or is it happening that aliens, or people from the other planets, are in fact able to live with us in our earthly…?

Yes, for sure. ( *They are?) They're more advanced. They can do anything they want.

*Are they like us? Just like us? ( Look like, yes.)

*Look like us?

Some more beautiful, some more ugly.

*But very advanced in their…? (Yes, yes.) Very advanced.

There are some benevolent aliens. They try to help us also, but many of them are also very weak, not decisive - just know technically, but too soft, so when they're dealing with the hassles of our world planet, they do not know what to do. So I have to give them some message, hoping they'll hear. I don't know if they have ears. Yes, they're supposed to be very advanced but they're too soft sometimes, too soft. They're too gentle.

*In a way, this isn't my personal problem I guess, but it's very difficult for me to formulate the question. But, as I can see probably, in my life, I have certain goals but it's very difficult for me to reach those goals. I saw a lot of obstructions. So I wonder whether I can reach even my goals… (What goal?) yes, probably enlightenment.

You mean spiritually? Or business-wise, the goals? Enlightenment, you got it already. You have to just recognize it day by day. Get to know it. Get to know your possession. All right? And about other things in life, like business or success - in business, you just have to use your knowledge that you gained from school or from the business facilities that you happen to be affiliated with. And use your experience, your honesty, your hard work, to win the game.

Every successful businessman works hard. Yes? You read their life stories. They work hard for success, not that they are born successful. Most of the heiresses or the heirs who inherited the kingdom of their fathers or mothers, mostly are not very successful themselves. Mostly they're even too spoiled and don't know how to run a business and sometimes make the business of the parents go, wash ashore on Hawaii.

So, no need to worry about the early success. Some people succeed late in life after many trials and tribulations. And same with enlightenment, same with enlightenment - just be persevering and it will come. Even the Buddha had to meditate for 49 days under the bodhi tree, nonstop, until he got the final answer. And Jesus also had to shut himself in the desert for 40 days or 49 days, mostly 49 days. People in the Tibetan or Buddhist tradition, they use seven: seven days, and seven-seven, two times seven, or three times seven - that's why the 49.

So we cannot be so quick, but we can do two-and-a-half hours every day and then see how it goes. Every time you sit in meditation, it's recorded in Heaven - doesn't matter if you are successful with your meditation or not. As long as you sit there and long for God, even if you die at that moment, you'll never ever go to hell or any very mean level of existence. Any time, you immediately go to Heaven and see the Master up there, in whichever form you like. You can choose, “I like Jesus better. I like Buddha better. I like Master Ching Hai, maybe she's there.” All right? Don't worry. You're enlightened anyhow. Just takes time to recognize it. It's very difficult to recognize things that we have forgotten for a long time.

For example, you have not had diamonds for a long time and suddenly somebody gives it to you, it's difficult to believe it. Just like some people who won the lottery, sometimes they have a heart attack because they can't believe it.

*Dear Master, I have this book that talks about you today. (What book?) This book was reprinted in 1920, October 2. That man was born 200 years ago and wrote a book about our time. The second book talks about you.

All right, I'm curious. Is your English good enough? Okay, you try. You want to share it with our disciples, right?

*Yes. (Okay.)

*It talks about the whole world - America, Arab world, European world - all happened exactly. So when I see the typhoon or hurricane or earthquake, not a surprise to me, because since I travel, I read the book. It's very true, everything's come true.

Another Nostradamus of Âu Lạc (Vietnam)? Yes. Yes, we have many of the masters like Nostradamus in Âu Lạc (Vietnam). It's just that they are not worldwide famous, that's all, because it's not advertised. But they are very accurate too. That I know also. Who is that?

* “Prophecies for Humans” by Monk Vãi the yam seller, Master.

Okay, okay. You read it, 200 years ago, right?

* Yes. He talked about the 20th century…

“No need for temples, shrines, pavilions or hermitage. Generosity, kindness, compassion and virtue are the ways of Quan Yin.” He said, before God was in Heaven. At a later time, God was born in Nam Ðình. Today Ching Hai answers.

What he said, well, in the 20th century, something happens, like you don't need temples, you don't need any kind of worshipping palaces. You only need the Quan Yin, that's what they say.

*But these 11 books together… The first book talks about how our people on the Earth are so bad that God will go and create a new one. “Except you all change your heart, then Quan Yin Method will help us, guide us. We will be saved.” In the first book.

Okay, understood.

*The second book talks about after the Vietnam War there will be the Arab war. Exactly. So I looked it over and over and I said, “Oh Lord, everything comes true.” And America: “The snowy sky is traded for the flower, the flower withers, and everywhere becomes serene.”

“The snowy sky is traded for the flower, the flower withers, and everywhere becomes serene.” “Snow” means typhoons, hurricanes - all come true. So today we listen to Master and turn our heart to God immediately to save the world. If not, it will be so, so sad for us. Thank you, Master.

That's it? ( *Yes.) No big deal. She said like, before, God's in Heaven, but now God is born in the south - the “Nam Ðình” in Aulacese (Vietnamese) means the Kingdom of South Âu Lạc (Vietnam), because they call, the Aulacese (Vietnamese), Nam Ðình - southern kingdom This means God is born in Âu Lạc (Vietnam). That's why many people believe that Buddha is born in Âu Lạc (Vietnam), and they went all over Âu Lạc (Vietnam) to search for Buddha now, especially the Japanese - I heard. They went there to try to investigate the Buddha. All right? I don't know this man. He is not so famous like Nostradamus, but according to her in that book, everything happened the way he predicted it.

*Master, I do my meditation every day.

Good. You're good. Good for you. Very good. That's the only way you have to do. Nothing else. Let me have a look at the book. I'll read that book later, okay? But Nostradamus is very accurate. I read it, according to the translation, it was very good. All right? More questions?

*I know that each and every one of us, when we meditate, we call to you at one time or another. And I know also that from reading our magazines, I know that the answers have been given there, but just for my own personal satisfaction again, could you please tell me and explain to me how are you able to answer each and every one of us when there are so many of us? But it seems like you answer us at the right time and you give us the right instruction or the right solution to whatever it is that we're asking you. How are you able to be in tune to so many of us at all times?

Very simple: I don't know. I don't know anything I did, I do or will. ( *Truly?) It's God that does things through me. All right? I am one with the Father and it's the Father who does everything. The Father can take care of the whole universe, just a bunch of you is nothing. If I have to know what the Father does, then I'd get tired. I just let Him do well, or let the Mother… that's what it is, otherwise the sister will complain. Actually, the power of the universe, the Supreme Master power, does everything and regulates all things.

But knowing this sometimes makes us feel also frustrated, yes? “Why doesn't He/She let us be virtuous and holy, wholesome, instead of letting us go through all these tribulations and tests and suffering?” But that's the way it is. We have the free will, the choice. In the beginning of our lifetime, in the beginning of all life, we have choice. We have the voice inside telling us, “This is better, this is good, this is `no.'”

But sometimes we like to play, we like to do the things that are not according to the parents' teaching, like children, and hurt ourselves. That's the problem. Sometimes when the parents say, “Stay away from the fire. Don't play here. Don't play there,” but we do it, just for the sake of curiosity. All right, then God lets us learn the hard way, the easy way, it's up to us. Therefore, some people stay holy, wholesome, some people go astray, but that is only for a while. And they will suffer the consequence, and then they will awaken from and through the suffering and become wholesome again, and turn back in the right direction.

Therefore, sometimes people are also right in saying that suffering is a blessing in disguise from God. Otherwise, if we are always happy and have everything in our life, and smoothly, we don't appreciate and we do not try to listen to God's will. Truly like that.

In the beginning of our lifetime, in the beginning of all life, we have choice. We have the voice inside telling us, “This is better, this is good, this is no.” But sometimes we like to play, we like to do the things that are not according to the parents' teaching, like children, and hurt ourselves. That's the problem. Sometimes when the parents say, “Stay away from the fire. Don't play here. Don't play there,” but we do it, just for the sake of curiosity. All right, then God lets us learn the hard way, the easy way, it's up to us.

Therefore, some people stay holy, wholesome, some people go astray, but that is only for a while. And they will suffer the consequence, and then they will awake from and through the suffering and become wholesome again, and turn back in the right direction. Therefore, sometimes people are also right in saying that suffering is a blessing in disguise from God. Otherwise, if we are always happy and have everything in our life, and smoothly, we don't appreciate and we do not try to listen to God's will. Truly like that.

Okay, here. Now, I just remembered the Reader's Digest. I also read a story this morning about a boy who was trapped in a well, about six stories high - no water in it, only mud - and then how he tried to use all his wisdom and strength to go back up again - nobody helped him - and how after the incident, he appreciates everything that he has in his life: the clean sheets of the bed, the brothers, the sisters, the flowers in front of his house, the beautiful meal.

Because he was trapped there for six days and all he had was muddy water - dirty, muddy water - to drink for his strength, and he had to dig up the wall, concrete wall of the well, to tip-toe up, and it took him six days. And how he appreciated everything, even a meal and the nice, hygienic surroundings and the clean bed sheets. Just like me, I grew up near the ocean. Yes, in Âu Lạc (Vietnam), we have a long ocean on the borderline and I never thought of water, of the ocean, as any great deal. So when I come here, I just stick in my house all the time - actually, I didn't come for the ocean - and then sometimes I walk on the beach for some exercise because the medicine makes me feel so drowsy.

I can't sleep all day And then I went on the beach with one of the attendants and I saw some people just sitting there on the beachwith children and dogs and cats and together, family, and just stare at the ocean and so mesmerized and fascinated, and I said to the attendant, “What are they doing?” He said, “Well, some people never saw the ocean in their life.” He said, just like in China - he's Chinese - he said, “In China, when people are born in the big China, in the mainland and very deep inside, they would never see ocean in their life; they never know such a big gathering of water.”

I said, “My God! Really true.” Because I never appreciated the ocean. I was born with the ocean, I always see the ocean in my life - even my name is “Ocean” - so I took it for granted, that it's no big deal. But now I realize that some people have to pay a lot of money and go through a lot of savings and hardships in order to come to Hawaii, for example, just to look at the sea which they never saw in their life and probably never will see again. Such a big body of water, it must be amazing for them. They sat there all day and stare at it. It's worth the money. So, that sometimes probably is the effect of the suffering.

During the suffering time, we turn inward more, we pray more, because at that time we know whatever it is, that there must be something, we have to rely on that thing. Also, Nostradamus, he also said that in this, probably, coming time, there will be a lot of disasters, and Before in this century, a lot of disasters, a lot of trouble, that even some people who never believed God before, begin to pray to God and the saints. That's what he said. Probably that's the way it is. God tries to help us, to turn our mind back to the source of all blessings and eternal life. And do not worry even if you lose your life - you don't lose anything.

told you already, life is a joke. It's a setup for us to play around and to learn whatever that curiosity wants us to learn, and when we're fed up with it, God will help. Even if God destroys the planet, we are not to worry. Of course, we try to save it, it's a beautiful planet. That's the only one we have at the moment. But if Hes has to do it, it doesn't matter. There's so much, so vast the universe, a lot of planets we could go and roam around. Don't worry. But be good, otherwise we could not even have that privilege. That's the problem. That's the problem. Even though God is very neutral and no male, no female, no good, no bad, and no judgment, but the way we do things carries in itself the consequence.

Just like our parents love us anyhow, whether we're bad or good, their love will not die. But if we do bad things that are not according to the parents' warning, then we bring harm upon ourselves, we bring sometimes disaster, sometimes injury, sometimes it's damaging to our beauty. But still, after we get damaged, still the parents love us. They might love us even more but that doesn't help us. Their love won't die but we damage ourselves. That's the problem only. Therefore, we just have to be good, be virtuous, be God-like, so that we are near to God for our own benefit. God loves us, it doesn't matter what we do. They love us. She/He loves us anyhow. All right? Just I teach you to be good for your own benefit. Okay, now, here, the article…

*Page 13.

Thirteen, the article that everybody wants to look at… no, the females want to look at. Thirteen, “What Women Do Better.” See that? Reader's Digest, April '94. Even it's this year. It was so battered I thought it was last year. Okay, look here, what the women do better: the women learn language better, the women are more handy than men - I just read the headline and if you want, you can buy it - the women are more social, talented, more smiling, more sunny, etc., yes? The women are born to lead. See? They say that women, when they are leaders, they're better because they encourage other people to recognize the best in themselves, to bring the best out of themselves.

And the men are mostly dominating, making other people feel subordinated. That's what it is in here, all right? And, even more in the sports. The women swim better it's a joke - the only woman who swam the English Channel, 1978. Yes, other men dare not swim there, I guess. So you know I'm not “cooking” something from my own diet. You can read. Okay? All right. Anything else?

*Master, I want to ask a question. You answered several of my questions while you were finishing what you were saying, and I had a question. There are so many people coming out now that are like Masters, being recognized by people, like Mother Mira, and there are gurus that are Masters and that are enlightened and so on, and I know that your disciples call you “Supreme Master,” and I want to understand that, because I had a message come to me a month ago about Quan Yin meditation, and I had never heard of it before.

I didn't know anything about it, and I feel I have been called here, to come here today, and yet I don't understand what separates a Master from another Master. Could some of us also be Masters and not know it or not be using it or…? I just want to understand better, what it means by a “Supreme Master” or are certain people attracted to one Master because they can learn something specially from them?

Well, many people, they believe in the vision when they meditate and they know what their Master is. Well, I can't interfere. All right? And so they call me what they want to call, and you call me what your want to call. All right. And, the Supreme Master, we all are, just that you do not recognize it, or you're not called to do this terribly troublesome job. You should be happy. If you're called, you can't run away, yes?

Sooner or later you have to appear, against your will even. All right. And some people believe in Nostradamus, for example, so how to look for the Master because he described inside, the savior of the world is what, and what, and what, and what. They have several signs to measure, because there are so many Masters. But all the Masters are good, yes? Just like all the teachers in the educational hierarchy are good. One teaches one thing and the other teaches another, we should respect all and learn with whomever we feel most sure, most attracted to and most in love with. All right? You are happy with my answer? (*Yes.) Good.

*Thank you, Master. It's my pleasure to be here and my honor.

My pleasure too.

*Thank you. For years I've meditated and I feel like I'm in a desperate situation. I know that there is a point one reaches… I know the enlightenment is within me. I know a great deal intellectually, but I have not felt it emotionally yet. I feel that I'm almost still struggling, and when I saw your tapes on TV that you told people coming back, “I will give you enlightenment, the Light and the Sound.” Master, that's why I'm here. (I see.)

*Every other question to me means nothing. Can you help with the Light? Can you help with the Sound? Can you help me to be enlightened or to bring forth what I know is within me, because my goal in life is to be able to say what you say, “I live there.” And for this, I say “thank you.”

No problem. That's what I'm here for. If tomorrow you have time in the morning, we can conduct an initiation here.

*You mentioned that life is not important.

Not important? Yes?

*Can you explain it to me?

When? Just explain the whole thing, the whole sentence.

*Well, we go through life and it's not such a big deal. It is a big deal where life doesn't make any difference.

Our life is a joke? I just said it before, right? In this night.

*Maybe I just misunderstood you.

No, no, no. You didn't. It's just that you didn't understand completely. What I mean is, this physical life, which is so short anyhow, and full of sickness, suffering, and misery and dissatisfaction, it's not really that important, compared to the life that we get after - you know what I mean? - the real life, without shadow. Yes? That's what I meant. But of course, as long as we live in this life, treasure your life.

That's what I told the gentleman: his life is more precious than the precepts. Then you must know. You can't just hang on to one sentence, all right, and attach there. Life is precious as long as you have it. And if you don't have it, no problem, you have a better life still, but that is if we are prepared for that better life: we have a virtuous way of life, we meditate, we're closer to God, we are God-like, then life is better for us. That's what we should utilize this life, for that end only. You know what I mean? Is that clear now? I'm not clear to you yet?

*Yes, I understand.

Okay, good. Our life here is only as precious as long as we use it to find God. Otherwise it's nothing: we're born, we die, nobody cares - accomplish nothing. If we cannot use this life, this physical life, to know God, it's really a waste. We don't know if we'll get another life again, the same life again, physical life. That's why life is precious; otherwise, nothing, okay? Someone's born, someone dies, it's only a few decades of lifespan. It's a waste. Going through a lot of suffering, a lot of enduring, it's really a waste. Are you satisfied? Everything's all right? Ask everything you need to know so that you go home light and “digested,” okay.

*Master, for some time now, I get this urge that for one reason or another - and it's usually that I'm not content with how I handle inside matters, inside I have this urge that I want to shave my hair.

It's very short already.

*And then I read this article that said it didn't have anything to do with your practice, and tonight I still get this urge that I want to do it because it's some kind of a purification that I'm going to derive from it. Do you approve of your disciples doing this when we're not exactly nuns?

Well, it's your hair. I have no right, I have no patent right over your hair, except you probably don't look that beautiful. It's your responsibility. Do it if you want. Cut it, shave it. (*Okay.) I have my long hair now. You have your hair short. It's all right. You do what you want, as long as you're happy with it for some time - because you were a nun last life, so you long to go back to the cycle. It's all right. If you need to do it, do it. It will grow again, very fast.

Don't worry. What I meant is, some people, they are so much attached to the outer appearance that they think if they have not shaved their head or have not worn the yellow robe, that means they're not holy, they can never reach Buddhahood or Godhood that way. That is the attachment that should be cut, not the hair or not the “not hair.” You can cut your hair if that really makes you feel good for a while. It's fine. It's just the notion of the people that I cut All right. I had to do it. I had to wear my red robe.

*Since you're interested in Nostradamus, there's also a film, “The Life of Nostradamus.” It's quite old and it was made with Orson Welles, but it's very good;

an excellent film that follows all the quatrains very closely.

Yes, thank you very much. I just hope they made it correctly, because even the people who interpreted the predictions of Nostradamus… I'm not very much into astrology and things like that, it's just that this man is so excellent. He's truly worth his name. Not many can be like that. He's a very good clairvoyant, and a very virtuous person as well. I don't even need to know anything in the future actually, it's just that this man was so accurate and people talked about him and then they lent me a book.

I knew his name a long time ago, but I'm never intoreading these kinds of things. I'm not very interested. Just that lately a boy lent me a book of Nostradamus in Aulacese (Vietnamese) and I read it. That's it. That's how I know about his predictions. Even the people interpreted his predictions, they can only interpret correctly when things already happened. They know, “Ah! No wonder! This and that…” and then everything fits into the picture. But when it comes to the things they do not know yet, even though they can translate line by line, but they still wonder why it's like this.

But if you are meditating in the Quan Yin Method… When I read him, I knew exactly what he said, just like he was writing for me alone. It's very, very easy to understand and I know exactly what he said, but people still question whetherhe meant that and this and other: “How come?” You know what I mean? Yes?

*I was going to say the quatrains are written very metaphorically. And so as time passes they've been interpreted about three or four times, and just like you said, the interpretations become clearer and clearer or more accurate as time passes, (Yes.) and they're done almost in hindsight.

The things have not come, for example, because I read only up to… He predicted up to the savior of the 20th century, and everything is so clear, just like you look into a mirror, and people still staying there, wondering, “Who? Where? How come?” It's so clear, so clear to those Aulacese (Vietnamese) who read this.

It's like just like put two and two make four. But the people who wrote the book, who compiled the book, still wonder. They still do not feel sure. Even though, for example like, they put about 10 Masters together, very famous in those days, and they still don't know who that is, because so many signs are missing.

*Thank you. I have several questions. One is: Do you carry the “traveler's keys?” I am of the belief that a Master is handed the “traveler's keys,” because, well, I also belong to a spiritual organization, (Yes. So?) and this person I believe carries the mystical traveler's keys.

Key. Yes? Well, I believe that we have the key in the book of “The Key of Immediate Enlightenment.” Is that what you're talking about? (*All right.) Okay. But this key, I cannot show you. I can only open the door, but I cannot show you the key.

*So obviously that answers my question. (Yes.) Another question is, with this initiation, to become an initiate, what is, apart from all the other things that you've said- meditate and the vegan diet - do you also have books that we have to study? (Books?) Are there books for us to study with?

You can read practically any books you want to.

*But you don't have any books as such, for us to study with?

No, not really. Some of the books that the disciples have compiled came from my lectures somewhere. Probably if you are interested, you can read them, and any other books you can read. I'm not particular, like you have to read my book or other Masters' books. Any book that is nourishing for your spiritual practice, you can choose.

* Okay. But you don't have any set books as such.

No, I don't like to be a biased…

*Like teachings, teachings that are in set books (No, no, no.) and we have to read them every month, or (No.) whatever like that.

No. Nope!

*Well, that's fascinating.

Why? Does it disturb you?

*No, I think that's great, because we have to read books, these books and I feel…

Headache, right? (*Yes, in fact…) Okay. Probably you passed the books already and they didn't know. It's not their fault, it's your fault. If you keep hanging on in the kindergarten all the time, then you have to play with the blocks, wooden blocks, and things like that. The teacher can't offer anything else when you hang around there.

*Right. Also there are different realms.

Yes. There are different realms but we don't mark it with mileage and things like that.

*So when we become an initiate, what realm do you take us into?

It depends on what you wanted. (Causal realm…) No.

*There are various realms, so what realm do we actually go into, do you take us into?

Into the highest one.

*To the highest realm?

Finally, finally; not immediately.

*Not immediately.

Yes, it depends on your background, your karma (retribution), your sincerity. You get into a realm above this Earth first, see?

*Yes, I understand.

Somebody goes into the first, so to speak, but we don't have it marked, so to speak, and then I will tell you how you recognize which realm. There are some signs inside, like what Light you will see or what Sound you will hear in first realm or second realm or third realm, then you just recognize it, for the sake of curiosity.

*I know I'm in a realm right now and I don't really know which one it is.

Well, how do you recognize it? The teacher doesn't tell you?

*If I was to write over to him, yes, I would be told, but I haven't written.

So, you want me to tell you? You keep it a secret, okay? (Yes.) You should not tell other people your inner experience. (*Okay.) But you could tell it to your teacher.

*Yes, I understand. Thank you.

You could tell me, but secretly, not in front of people. You might lose it. All right?

*In spiritual life, do I have a choice of doing my own spiritual awareness or my own God or do I have to choose any specific religion?

As far as we are concerned here, we do not have a particular religion to recommend people. If they are Catholic, I say, “Then just stay there,” if Buddhist, “Stay there.” Because, actually, from my understanding and my realization is that the religions are only the names of the same thing, the same essence, but over time people have forgotten the essence.

After the Buddha, they name it Buddhist; after Christ, they name it Christian, so we have no opinion on what you believe. Yes? Doesn't matter what you believe as long as you get in touch with that essence of your belief. It's all right with us, all right? Yes. And no need to change your religion or no need to look for a new religion.

One time, a disciple, a fellow practitioner in Texas, she went to study with a kind of theological group they learn to discuss the Bible and explain the Bible and things like that - because her family background is a “Bible-ish” kind of family, and she had to answer all of their questions related to our practice now, whether it is really according to the religion's scripture or not. So, she went there and studied with them. Then many times it happened that she was the student, but she answered everything clearly for the professor, so she was a kind of a “sore thumb” for them.

Because she's already enlightened and probably they were not so enlightened. They clung to the Bible, but not the essence inside. So one day they invited her to come and asked her about all things, but the thing is not about her discussion with the professor; it is about the things she did. People who go into that class have to state what religion they belong to, and she didn't know what to say, she put “Ching Hai” and that was what made more problem.

And then when she came to tell me, I said, “No wonder they asked you to come for interrogation! I am not your religion!” I told her, “You should not put me as your religion. I'm just your teacher to make you understand more of your religion, whatever your religion is, to make you understand that the real essence of all religions are only one: there is only one God, one Buddha essence, one Buddha Nature, nothing else. Just like one electricity power for all the lights, the bulb, the refrigerator, the iron, and the television.

And then she made me laugh so hard - “Ching Hai.” That's probably the problem with you. If you don't have any religion, you'll probably put my name on it and then I have to be responsible for anything. Yes, after I die, probably people will build temples even though I don't have any now. When Jesus was alive, he didn't have shoes - he didn't wear shoes even - he didn't have a house. I have, when I stay here, of course, I have a house, but people's house, and when I stay in the headquarters for some time I have only a tent. But when I die, perhaps people will build temples and make a Ching Hai-ism out of me. I can't do anything about it.

So you don't have to worry whether you have a religion or not. We're all right. You have God inside. Got it? Good. Yes. I'm with you. Good! Here, again you? You excited things.

*Master, I thank you for all my children. Please bless them to enter your Kingdom.

Okay, you know what? Even Buddha's cousin went against him. I am lucky I have a good family clan. All believed in me and some even got initiation, including my parents, my sister, my niece, my cousins' cousins, and nephews

But not all the family members of a Prophet or of a Master or of any spiritual seekers have the same faith in him or in the same faith with his Master or her Master. So don't worry about that. They are all children of God. God takes care of them in the right way, in the right time. Okay? If they go with you, fine. If they don't go with you, they go with God, it's all right. Right or wrong, they're all in God's hands. You okay? They are not with you yet? Vegetarian? That's good already! My God. Good that they're not against you.

Some people come to me and say, “Master, I can't get initiation.” I say, “Why?” “My children don't let me eat vegetarian.” Yes, I can't believe it, yes. Husband, wife, children, parents - everyone - because they go with the whole world, the trend of the world is non-vegetarian and “do as you please.” They don't know God. They just pray to God but they don't really feel fear of God.

*And then what exactly does initiation do to you? Like, I believe in while we are on this Earth that we live as close as possible to the real God, which is love yourself and love one another (That's good.) and be non-judgmental, and not only meditating and praying, but to do, actually do, the will of God. In other words, try to be the light of this world, instead of giving people a bad time or giving them hard feelings.

It's good. That's good. You're already there, yes?

*Plus the deed is not only what you do, but did, in your thought-life, as well.

Sure, sure, sure, sure. We'll take care of all that at the initiation.

*The initiation will enhance that I can do all those? Because daily I self-examine myself, sometimes I see myself… I'd rather really walk the walk of love. (I understand.) Sometimes I'm very temperamental, sometimes I get angry at the people who… so slow! (Yes, yes.) And I get so tired. (Very honest.) “She shouldn't be on the street, because she doesn't know how to drive!” Then I get mad and I don't know… (It's all right.)

And I do it exactly opposite to what God is: total forgiveness. And when I do something for people, I said, “I did this for him or her, she didn't even say 'thank you.'” Because I shouldn't feel that way when I do something.

No promise. Report! Report! Please report. You see, the initiation is not about personality cult. It is the inner connection with what you want to see, the God that you always worship and want to know the will of. See, you have to get in touch with Hirm. The line of the “telephone” has to be connected. That's all. Now it's broken, okay? I have to connect it, and then you will see God for yourself and you'll hear Hirm speaking in a musical way; and then that musical without language, will change your life, and whatever way He wants to transform you or She wants to transform you, that I cannot promise. But 99.999% is for the better, unless you don't want to.

*Thank you very much.

*Master, you asked for some report. May I say something according to that?

Please.

*My personal experience changed me dramatically. I'm much more tolerant to people, driving-wise and otherwise, in every way, shape and form. And all I had to do was meditate two-and-a-half hours a day, just as the Master requested, and day by day it's changing so gradually, so subtly, inside. One day I realized that, yes, it has affected my life tremendously. So I just wanted to share that with you.

*I wasn't sure if I could report this, but after initiation, March 28, 1993, you spoke to me and you invited me to your house. I had been in Honolulu for 10 days. I didn't know where the address was, so I went home. The next day I meditated on the bus and when I opened my eyes I was in a strange place. So I got off the bus and I was in front of the address of the house where you were staying. So I went inside and I met with people and they explained the vegetarian diet to me so I could follow. But since then I wanted to thank you for this.

No improvement except the wrong bus? The wrong bus to the right direction, nothing else?

*Well, actually, that was just the first of many miraculous events.

All right. Of course, after initiation, every day is a miraculous day, but sometimes we take it for granted. Too many, we can't write it. (*It sure is.) It sure is.

*I would like to be able to say in words what it's done to me, but that's kind of difficult, because it isn't easy to articulate. I know that I have done several forms of meditation. I've been in Buddhist temples in Japan and in other countries, and done silences and have been really moved in my life by those, but I have not… The clarity and the freedom and the peace that I have now is 100% more than I had before.

It doesn't mean I don't have a long way to go. Not only from the meditating, in the way that you've instructed me, but also from the vegetarian diet. I grew up in the Midwest, on the mainland, where cows and pigs were what you ate, and I truly didn't think I could ever get those out of my diet, and it's amazing that 24 hours after I heard the way you said it, something cellular struck me that this is what I was supposed to do - and I did it for me. And now I care about the animals, too. I mean, it strikes a very lovely chord in me that I could even say this to you. I wanted to say that to you.

This is it, yes. This is what the vegetarian diet is about: the true love from within for all beings. Not because the Master says so or Jesus said so or Buddha said so, or because I don't want the bad karma (retribution) of killing. It's truly because we have love for the animals. That is the way you started. That's the right way, and I'm happy for you. (*Thank you, deeply.) Good for you.

*I was a vegetarian before I had initiation, but this last year, it's been very strange. I was a macrobiotic eater before, and just recently I went to a naturopathic doctor and he recommended that I go on a juice fast, a vegetable juice fast.

Yes, it sounds all right. And then what happened? Why? You were sick?

*Not really, but it's like a cleansing diet.

You want some kind of purification for the body? (*Yes.) All right, then what happened?

*And I was on a fast for like about almost 100 days.

What for?

*He wanted me to clean out my colon.

That's a long purification. And then, so what happened now?

*And I stopped because it was pretty long. But I was just wondering if this is part of that purification of the...?

I didn't recommend that. (*No.) But if you want to, you can try. I am all for liberation.

*It sort of just unfolded by itself.

Was it good for you? Did you feel better anyway? You lost weight? (*Yes.) Very skinny now. You feel okay? If you feel okay, it's all right, I guess.

*I guess that's my experience of vegetarianism, since I was initiated.

That is very, very “vegetarian,” extremely. We didn't recommend that. It's all right. You just be normal, okay? But if you want to sometimes go on a fast because you feel heavy or something in the body, it's all right with me. But you don't need to, all right? Every day if we eat not too heavy, about 80% and then drink 10% of fluids, that's enough. That should be a very ordinary diet, and no need to go into extremes, unless the doctor recommends you sometimes, yes? He did? You're so skinny. That's enough, 100 days. That's a lot! What did you drink all that time? Orange juice?

Carrot juice, potato juice, celery juice?

Yes, yes. And a kind of sprout juice and the wheat juice. Okay.

*My name is Ken Wu from Chicago. I'm attending the Anthony Robbins seminar (Hi.) and I'm so happy to be here. And I didn't expect this when I left Chicago for this seminar to be able to meet you, because I know you were in Chicago in February, and I missed you and I read about you in the paper. I said, “Oh!

It's wonderful that I can meet that Master someday.” And then July the 24th, there was a street fair in Chicago Chinatown, and there was a booth of your disciples there. And I picked up for the first time some books and I purchased some videotapes of you and I immediately decided, after reading the free booklet, that I would want to be a vegetarian, (Good for you.) and I started that and there were some struggles from that day on, but I think I will overcome that. (Good for you.) It's just, like, magical that I'm here, because it's, I guess, destiny brought us together and also with all these people. (I guess so, too.) And then my wife is here with me.

Where is your wife?

* And she was skeptical, and I said, “You've got to come, for some reason there's got to be something great happening.” So that's why I'm here. Thank you very much.

*Master, I too am very honored to be here. I am too from the Robbins seminar.

*From what I have discovered in the last 24 hours about you and your teaching, and from what I know, having spent nine months listening to Tony Robbins' teaching, there is so much similarity between what he teaches on one level, and what you teach on another level altogether, that I pray that somehow the two of you will come together.

And I think that many, many of his students - and I only put it at that level because he is not a spiritual teacher, he is a psychologist - but so many of his students are meditators and so many of them would be able to take their lives to a completely new level if they could hear you speak. So I think that all of the people from Robbins here, and many of the meditators who wished us luck in coming over to see you tonight, who regretted that they weren't able to, I think they will pray that somehow you and he, or certainly you and his people, will get together at some stage when the time is right.

Thank you. It's up to God.

Sometimes I work very hard for something, I thought I would be able to help or do something, and then God says, “Plop! No. Forget it.” Then I just forget it and go to sleep. All right. There is no hard feeling. I want to tell you, God always tricks me into going somewhere. I told you already in the beginning of the meeting. He tricks me all the time, or She tricks me all the time. I am used to it. That's nothing. I am always laughing at everything, because I know. I'm used to it with the Old Man, or Old Woman, Old Mother.

Actually, it's very, very clear to me, all right? So if I come here and miss the opportunity to be with your people, to be with your teacher, that is also all right. It's not the main point, okay? I know very clearly. Thank you, anyhow, and please convey my love and regards to your teache

r.

*Master, I live on the Big Island of Hawaii, and I was also at the Robbins seminar, helping my friend with her children. And I just wondered if you have any insights into... It's so frustrating, being on the Big Island and seeing them wanting to end all the growing of food and the agriculture and all that. They want to just build everything all over the whole island and turn it into, like another French Riviera and all this sort of thing, and I just get so frustrated, because every time I try to… I go to the meetings and I say, “You know, don't you see that this has happened everywhere else?” It happened on Oahu.

It happened on Maui. It happened all over California, where people don't have a balance with nature and they just start destroying nature and the reef and the water and everything, and I get so frustrated, because I am friends with the dolphins, and I swim with dolphins on the Big Island, and it's almost like they communicate to you about what's happening to the ocean. And so that is a big concern to me, the ocean and what building and all this development does, and it really changes the island.

And I just wondered if you have any insights. I am frustrated about what to do, what we can do to save the Big Island - at least, hopefully keep it, the Aina, safe, and the animals and the ocean clean and pure. And, is it possible on the planet anymore to stop this madness? And no matter what you do, the politics… they just pay off the politicians. And everyone just pays them off and they vote against, even though you pointed out all the things that are really bad about this. So many people have moved from other places because they want to be where the land is pure and beautiful like Hawaii.

Yes, I share with you your anxiety. The other day I had breakfast with one of the natives. He took me out to buy some books and magazines. I thought I'd just get out for a few minutes and get some books, and then we talked about Hawaii

And I say I share sympathy with the people in Hawaii. There are always the good and bad points of everything. For example, we talked about nearly 100 years ago, Hawaii still had a Queen, yes, the monarchy?

Of course, there are never perfections in this world. And one good point is that our native initiates told me, the good point is that it's developed, the island has developed, and it's also more prosperous, and also good education for the people. And another, bad, point is that some of the Hawaiians lost their land unjustly. They cannot prove that they have a paper that they owned the land, which they did not need before. Everybody

in the neighborhood would know that land belonged to that man, and they'd live honestly together and they'd just shake hands to do business: no transaction paper and no lawyer, nothing. And now probably some other foreigner comes, and the native people could never prove - some of them never proved that they owned this land and that land, and then they've been pushed out, and then became like homeless, and even treated not very nicely sometimes.

These are the bad things. So, similar to Big Island now, probably it will be developed into a very well-known spot for the whole world to enjoy, but then, at the sacrifice of the natives. And I do not know what is the best to tell you, apart from being very sympathetic with the native people and the people like yourself; I do not really know what the answer is the best.

*So it's best to continue to speak out, even though it seems fruitless to do so?

Well, at least it makes you feel good and brings you in contact with the people with the same mind, and then you can comfort each other. Maybe you can find a better way or a compromise. I heard that Molokai also now is being bombarded with civilization, new buildings and things like that. Is that right? Actually, I wrote to the government of Hawaii.

I wrote to them last year, or two years ago, or something, a long time. I said Molokai is a very desolate island, people don't live there, only a small community, compared to other places, which is not developed. And I said, it is very good for development, can make it into a more prosperous place; otherwise it's a waste of a very beautiful and big island. Because before, they used to put leprosy people there only, and a handful of the community there.

I heard there are only a few hundred people even. When I heard the report about that, about the island, so I wrote to the government, I said, “Well, they need some good management and know-how technical people to come and develop the island.” Because the other islands are so crowded and polluted, and Molokai is like empty. People told me that it's a superstition in Hawaii, the people don't dare live in Molokai because it used to be the ancestral burial ground. Is that not so? I'm not sure whether the information they reported to me is correct. Is that so?

*I'm really not that familiar with Molokai. (Okay, fine.) On Molokai they have a big water problem.

A big water problem. Water problem! Okay. So if they drill the ground, they would have it. ( *It's difficult.) They don't have water in Molokai? (*Not too much.) But that I don't think is any problem; we can get it from other islands, if it's developed But they don't answer me on this. And, they say, well, if they let the Aulacese (Vietnamese) refugees come in on this… I'm reported that nobody wants to live there because of the ancestral burial ground, and people are scared, and things like that. Something happens there, always.

That's what I'm reported, okay? I'm not native also. Anyhow, so I thought, okay, if it's a waste place and nobody wants to go there, then why don't just give the Aulacese (Vietnamese) refugees? I wrote to the government.

And we finance whatever we can, according to the number. If they say our money is not enough, then we finance a half or something.

But now, I heard that they developed Molokai Before, nobody wanted to develop; everybody just wanted to get out, and now everybody wants to get in, according to the newspapers I read recently. Is that not so? Some of the native people there also don't want development. They say that will destroy the landscape and affect the peaceful atmosphere of Molokai.

But on one hand, I'm sympathetic for the people of the island; on the other hand, I don't really know, because sometimes we have to share the good things with the whole world, and that is sometimes inevitable. And if we don't share it peacefully, maybe sometimes we are forced to share it in a violent way, and it is even worse. It is not even so pleasurable to do so. That's what happens with Wars around the world. What people cannot get peacefully, they force it on us by war, with war. That's how nations make war against nations, because they envy that piece of land that they don't have and we don't share with them.

Maybe it's God's will that we have to share everything, even though we don't like it. I do not really have the good answer for you. I'm very sympathetic to the natives, because I know what it's like to be homeless, while you own a piece of beautiful land before, and it's yours and suddenly you become homeless. And I told our disciple, the native, the Hawaiian that had breakfast with me that day, I said to him… you remember? I don't tell you lie.

Everything is correctly the way we said. So I said to him, “I can very well Understand the feeling of the people here,” because sometimes the law forces people into homelessness. It's too strict, too rigid Like I have a piece of land, I bought it about four or five years ago. It's supposed to be for our disciples but then they could not make use of it.

All right. So I came. I bought another land now for them anyhow, because I promised. I cannot go back on my promise. And that land, you couldn't even park the trailer on it

because of the law. I don't know whether the law is correct or not, or the person who represents the law makes trouble for fun, just to show that they have authority. The trailer is like a car, you can't even park on your own land. It's troublesome. And I paid every penny of it, and I pay tax every year and for four years I have not been there. I only came there once every four years. I could not even park a trailer to stay there for a while.

They came up to say “you have to pull out the electricity.” Electricity, we share with the neighbor, it's legal, that he uses only half, and then half of it you, it's all right - but cannot. “Pull all the electricity out, take all the trailers out.” Nothing in there, “You have to build the house first. But, before you build the house, you have to build a road.” It costs US$160,000, and we already have a road. They are not pleased with that road. “That road is too narrow, too high. You have to build another road.” We already have been up and down for many months, no problem. Okay, fine! I can afford US$160,000, but I don't pay for it. I don't want to destroy a piece of beautiful land, to cut hundreds more trees down just for another road and I said to the people, “Forget it! Drop it! Drop it! I don't even want that land.

Just leave it there, leave it there so that it keeps the environment,” because all the surroundings of my land is bald, no more trees. If it's fire or anything - destroyed - typhoon... And only in our place it's lush, it's green, and I wanted to keep it. I said, “I don't want to cut one half more trees. Half a tree more I won't cut.” And to build a road like this, it costs hundreds of trees and it costs hundreds of years to grow one tree, and the environment's already so dry. And I got hurt, that to think of a few billion more raindrops less next year if I cut these trees and make the road to build my house. I don't even need a house.

The law is fine, but they should know that the law is to protect citizens, not the citizens to protect the law. Like this, no one can afford to live there. And it is 40 acres of land - wasted. Nobody can live, not even a trailer. A trailer is not a mobile home -very small, and it's like a car, and you can't park your car on your land. That's how many Americans are forced into homelessness. How can a normal citizen afford a US$100,000 plus road before he can build a house? Without road, you can't build a house, you can't have electricity, you can't have anything, you know I mean?

So it's a must. And you can't even build the road yourself to save money. No! The government has to build it, agents from government. You can't build it yourself. If you build it yourself, you have our labor, probably it's cheaper; and the government, all they have to do is just come and measure if it's up to the standard. Then it's also a little bit more logical. No! You can't do it -and they force some ofthe ordinary citizens into homelessness and into doing some crimes sometimes, because they are too angry and because they are forced into a corner and have nowhere to turn and no alternative.

When their kids are hungry and their wives are sick at home, what else can they do? So the law is good,but sometimes it's too rigid on people. Yes? I can afford it, but other people cannot afford. Yes? Besides, I don't spend that money on myself to come every 4 years, stay in a trailer. I have to build a house, a road for US$160,000. Even US$16, I won't build to cut the trees andmake the environment become worse. That's the problem.

So I can understand also the native people here, because it happened to me. It happened to me. The system sometimes crushes people, crushes the ordinary citizens, under their feet and make them feel very pressured and depressed. So try to work out a moderate solution, if you can. If not, well, you have God. All right? If you lose everything else, you have God. What else can I tell you?